Scott Cullen at TSN...

[MikePeca27]

Has anyone else emailed him about his power rankings? I emailed him asking why he continues to crap on the Sabres even though now they beat the Flyers and the Sens. I am not saying they are better than the Sens, but the Flyers I think we are. He also doesnt care that almost every other sports site has the Sabres at least in the top 10 if not top 5.

[bduff54]

i still have no idea who this idiot is, and i watch TSN everyday, he is probably some intern.

[MikePeca27]

I was thinking about posting the emails that he and myself have been writing but I figured it would be boring for everyone. This guy is a joke lol.

[Thumper]

I was thinking about posting the emails that he and myself have been writing but I figured it would be boring for everyone. This guy is a joke lol.

Hahaha, post them....I would love to see what he has to say.

[pi2000]

Here's some of my ongoing thread with Scott Cullen...

Me: What an absolute joke. Buffalo puts up a 10 spot against the Kings and LA gets ranked two spots ahead of them???? You can't be serious.

Scott: It actually had more to do with Pavol Demitra coming back to the Kings' lineup and Tim Connolly leaving the Sabres' lineup.

Me: So your rankings are based on paper, not results. That clears it up. You should change the title to "Paper Rankings". Case in point, your #11 Buffalo has won 4 straight since Connolly's injury, beating your #4 (Philly) and #7 (NYR) ranked teams. Your #9, LA, has lost 5 straight, most recently to your #22 ranked team, Phoenix. They have only 2 wins in their last 10, including a 10-1 loss to the #11 ranked team. Care to explain?

Scott: On paper not results? Don't all the results end up on paper? I don't simply look at the standings, if that is what you're shooting for. Why? Because it is absurd to pretend that a team is of the same quality no matter who gets hurt or who is playing. At that point, then, you might as well be ranking laundry. So, I try to put a value on each player so that I can handicap games on a nightly basis. How to explain the Sabres winning since Connolly got hurt? (Even giving you the benefit of the Rangers game -- he played and got hurt in that one) the Sabres have played better this week. They've also played two beatable teams in the midst of slumps (Toronto and Atlanta) and had a home game against Philly tonight. Which of those three games would I have not favoured the Sabres to win? Uh, none. As for the Kings and Flyers, if they keep losing despite the respective returns of Demitra and Pitkanen they'll drop. Why do I think that if the Sabres got the same kind of boost from the return of Briere or Connolly it wouldn't be such a grossly-flawed system?

Me: Your argument is that LA should be ranked ahead of Buffalo because they added Pavol Demitra to their lineup while Buffalo lost Time Connolly. This is based purely on the lineup (paper), not on how the TEAM is actually playing. My argument is that Buffalo should be ranked ahead of LA because not only did they pound them 10-1 recently, but LA has lost 5 straight, while Buffalo has won 4 straight. You state below that you favored Buffalo at home against Philly? How? Philly is one of the top road teams in the league, and they're your number 4 ranked team. Isn't the whole idea of power rankings to illustrate which teams are better than others? I do agree with you that you need to factor in the lose of players to injuries and impact of those returning to the lineup. This formula works well with teams that have legitimate All-Stars in their line-ups... Philly, Detroit, LA, NYR, etc.. However when it comes to the Sabres, they don't even have a player in the top 65 in total points, Drury is closest at 69th. This needs to be taken into consideration when a guy like Tim Connolly goes down as they've been getting production from everywhere in their lineup. It looks to me like Mathieu Garon is starting to wear down and the lack of a proven veteran goaltender is going to hurt LA down the stretch. He's played 40 games already. The most he's played in a season is 19, back with Montreal. On the other hand, Ryan Miller just looks to be getting better and better every night. Time will tell if he can hold up, but with Martin Biron on the bench, watch for Lindy Ruff to liberally use both netminders down the stretch. Especially in March (17 games in 30 nights). That said, I think these guys got it right...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=mr-powerrankings020206&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

....no reply yet from SC.

[MikePeca27]

crap i put the filter on my email so it perm deletes emails when i delete them I will though post what I sent and how he responded and as it continues ill post what he said:

ME: Congrats on having the Sabres 11th in your power
rankings. How far will we drop now considering we
beat the Sens and Phil? My guess is like to 15th....

Scott: Way to chime in on rankings that are 5 days old...

ME: Is that all you can say when your rankings prove to
suck and someone challenges you on them? "Way to say
something a week later." lol

Nothing like beating two teams you had ranked higher
than the Sabres...nothing like having rankings that
are not even close to ESPN, SI, or most hockey sites.
Enjoy being the laughing stock of hockey fans around
the world.

Scott: My rankings are based on handicapping. Besides the Ottawa game I had Buffalo picked to win their games this week.

ME: OK if your are for handicapping and you have the
Flyers higher than the Sabres you didnt pick the
Sabres to win. With that also being said, you have
the Sabres the 11th worse team in the league. Umm
right all they do is win with injuries. And that is
what makes you glaringly wrong. They are power
rankings, not power rankings (based on handicapping)
or you would have said it somewhere, ANYWHERE on your
rankings but you dont. Its a nice cop-out though.
Like I said before enjoy having everyone laugh at you.
But hey at least we will look at your rankings every
week to see how wrong they are. At least you have
people looking, even if they are laughing right....

Scott: Just because other sites have the Sabres higher doesnt make them right. And dont try to tell me why I rank a certain way. The rankings are also on what would happen in a 7 game series on neutral ice.

ME: OK, so if I am understanding correctly....your
rankings are based on handicapping but then also who
would win a seven game series on neutral ice...right?
So in that case, the Sabres are the 11th worse team
in the league like I stated, you have them..... The
Sabres have also beat teams you ahead of them away
from HSBC. You have the Rangers as the #4 team Sabres
are 2-1 with the Rangers (1 win home, 1 win away).
Against the Flyers 2-0 (1 win home, and 1 away).
Avalanche 1-0 (1 win away). Also let me remind you
the Sabres are 2nd in the league on the PP and 3rd on
the PK. Oh, yeah and they have one of if the the best
records on the road (which is nice for the neutral ice
thing). And I will tell you how you pick because I
can see how you pick, you pick them as the 11th worse
team in the league. And everyone of course doesnt
agree with me, but the majority do. So, I and MOST of
the hockey world will continue to laugh at your insane
picks.

Still waiting for Scott...

[billspwn]

power rankings are a joke in every sport. they're fun to read, but theres no need to take them seriously. clearly this guy sucks at it, but he's not gonna get better 'cause its all subjective.

[beTough54]

I am totally amused by the fact that he angrily replies to every email you send instead of ignoring you.

[sabrebraves]

this is good stuff keep it coming lol

[MikePeca27]

He has responded:

Scott: I'm insane, but you can't acknowledge that a team gets an advantage playin on home ice? Go put that theory out to your circle of brilliant hockey
minds and let me know how well that is received.

SC

ME: I never said that home ice isn't an advantage so I'm not sure where you came up with that I was commenting on the neutral ice you brought up. You might want to read my last email again..here I'll help you:

"OK, so if I am understanding correctly....your
rankings are based on handicapping but then also who
would win a seven game series on neutral ice...right?
So in that case, the Sabres are the 11th worse team
in the league like I stated, you have them..... The
Sabres have also beat teams you ahead of them away
from HSBC. You have the Rangers as the #4 team Sabres
are 2-1 with the Rangers (1 win home, 1 win away).
Against the Flyers 2-0 (1 win home, and 1 away).
Avalanche 1-0 (1 win away). Also let me remind you
the Sabres are 2nd in the league on the PP and 3rd on
the PK. Oh, yeah and they have one of if the the best
records on the road (which is nice for the neutral ice
thing). And I will tell you how you pick because I
can see how you pick, you pick them as the 11th worse
team in the league. And everyone of course doesn't
agree with me, but the majority do. So, I and MOST of
the hockey world will continue to laugh at your insane picks"

Notice that part on "The Sabres have also beat teams you ahead of them away from HSBC." Then I go and list three teams Avalanche, Rangers, and Flyers all of which the Sabres have beat on the road, and are winning or won the season series againts. Winning on the road is harder than on neutral ice. Which also supports my comment about how the Sabres are one of the best if not the best road teams. Neutral ice means you technically would have fans from each team. Which would be easier to win games.

[sabrebraves]

that guy is a quack, he should be fired

[Forum21]

here's the formula that Scott uses:

http://www.anyware.co.nz/images/monkeywashescat.gif

[Forum21]

I am totally amused by the fact that he angrily replies to every email you send instead of ignoring you.
me too. doesn't this guy have anything to do?

[shotgun]

guys i sent this guys a e-mail 2 months ago and never got back also HIS POWER RANKING COME OUT EVERY MONDAY !!!

[beTough54]

guys i sent this guys a e-mail 2 months ago and never got back also HIS POWER RANKING COME OUT EVERY MONDAY !!!

It was probably filtered out by his spam system. Words that aren't spelled correctly often trigger those systems.

[Thumper]

How does this guy have a job analyzing hockey?

[Papaduke]

here's the formula that Scott uses:

http://www.anyware.co.nz/images/monkeywashescat.gif


Hey it looks like he is at least thorough.

[GG8407]

It was probably filtered out by his spam system. Words that aren't spelled correctly often trigger those systems.
Let him alone Blue--we don't need to get on his case about every error he makes.

[MikePeca27]

Scott: But you pretend to know who I picked when the 11th-ranked Sabres hosted the 7th-ranked Flyers:

"if your are for handicapping and you have the
Flyers higher than the Sabres
you didnt pick the Sabres to win."

As for individual head-to-head match-ups, I don't
consider them at all.

ME: You said before that your rankings are based on handicapping of who would win playing on a neutral ice. Then you put the Flyers ahead of the Sabres. If you thought the Sabres where going to beat the Flyers this week, you would have put the Sabres ahead of them. Your contradicting yourself. And previous emails you sent. There is no way you are going to try and get me to believe that you picked the Flyers to lose to the Sabres this week. Because you had them behind the Flyers.

[nATEFan22]

haha funny stuff keep at it